1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to cardboard pizza boxes and similar food containers. More particularly, the present invention relates to pizza boxes having a contoured bottom surface that prevents the underside of a pizza from becoming soggy or oily.
2. Prior Art Description
Cardboard boxes specifically designed to hold a round pizza have been in existence for several decades. In this long period of time, numerous different pizza box configurations have been produced. Today, the standard pizza box is a square box that is made from a single folded blank of corrugated cardboard. Once folded, the cardboard forms a box that is about 2 inches high and having equal sides of between 12 inches and 18 inches. The corrugated cardboard used to produce the pizza box is typically thick. This provides the pizza box with structural strength needed to stack multiple filled pizza boxes atop one another without the bottom box collapsing.
In a traditional pizza box, the inside bottom surface of the pizza box is flat and smooth. When a pizza is placed inside the box, the bottom of the pizza lay flush against the flat bottom of the box. Consequently, any condensation or oil that collects between the bottom of the pizza and the bottom of the box becomes trapped. This can cause the bottom of a pizza to become soggy or oily.
In an attempt to prevent a pizza in a box from becoming soggy, inserts have been invented that are placed in between the bottom of a pizza and the bottom of a box. The inserts have ridges that prevent the bottom of the pizza from laying flush on the bottom of the box. Accordingly, any liquid that may collect at the bottom of the box will not touch the pizza. Such prior art pizza box inserts are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,626 to Hall, entitled Pizza Box. Such secondary inserts make the pizza boxes more expensive. As such, pizza box inserts have had little acceptance in the pizza restaurant industry.
To avoid the need for secondary inserts, specialty pizza boxes have been designed that have undulating bottom surfaces. Such pizza boxes are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,930 to Storms, entitled High Quality Inexpensive Pizza Box, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,477 to Valdman, entitled Pizza Box. Such prior art pizza boxes have different shapes than do traditional pizza boxes and therefore require different shaped cardboard blanks. Since traditional pizza boxes are made in far greater quantities than are such specialty pizza boxes, the specialty pizza boxes are inevitably more expensive than are traditional pizza boxes.
A need therefore exists for a manner of taking a traditional pizza box and texturing its bottom surface so that air can flow between a bottom of a pizza and the bottom of the box. Furthermore, the texturing must be accomplished without adding material to the box and without otherwise increasing the cost of the box. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.